Drury architecture students apply skills to real-life tests

Every semester, Drury architecture students put their skills to the test in an applied learning class that engages them with communities throughout Missouri. This semester, Drury's Center for Community Studies is working with three communities in the Ozarks.

In Springfield, Drury students are working with members of the Rountree neighborhood, Missouri State University and the city of Springfield to create a visioning document for a section of National Avenue between Cherry and Grand streets.

Students are looking out two and three decades as they identify pros, cons and recommendations for development along the corridor. Drury students will present their findings 6-8 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Madison House on the MSU campus.

In Bolivar, students are hoping to strengthen the city's reputation as a vibrant economic, social and environmental destination. The Drury team is looking at cosmetic upgrades, such as a façade renewal, to help Bolivar connect with its citizens and other regional communities.

Students are also exploring issues, such as, identity and branding of the community, sustainable development and the integration of the arts. Students will make their final presentation to the community 6-8 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Main Street Event Center on the southwest corner of the square in Bolivar.

In Buffalo, students are focusing on physical renewal of the city's infrastructure in an attempt to create a more healthy and active lifestyle. Elements of the 20- to 30-year visioning study focus on parks, trails, sidewalks, after-school recreation, biking/pedestrian communities, sustainability, the physical renewal of the city's architectural infrastructure, identity, branding and connectivity.

Drury students will present to the Buffalo community 6-8 p.m. Dec. 11 at the O'Bannon Community Center in Buffalo.

On average, Drury charges the communities it works with the direct cost for materials and travel, while the students provide free about 2,700 hours of in-kind architecture and planning work for the communities per semester.